The archbishop of Canterbury's adviser on child protection has caused anger by arguing that courts should consider sparing paedophiles from jail.

Janet Hind, the Church of England's first national child protection adviser, said community rehabilitation orders were a more effective way of dealing with many sex offenders.

Hind, who is married to the Bishop of Chichester, told The Observer: 'People can be reinforced in their behaviours by being with other offenders. Many sex offenders end up in prison with other sex offenders, which can encourage their offending thoughts and fantasies, whereas a good treatment and supervision programme in the community can be more helpful in the long run for the protection of children.'

Hind, who advises the Archbishops' Council, of which Rowan Williams is joint president, said she favoured residential centres for sex offenders, such as the former Wolvercote clinic in Surrey. Run by the Lucy Faithful Foundation, it was the only facility of its kind in Europe until it closed in 2002 after protests against plans to reopen it on a new site.

'One shouldn't necessarily think that because somebody hasn't gone to prison that isn't the safe option, because obviously offenders come out of prison and, if they haven't had proper treatment, they're not going to be as safe as if they have had a good treatment programme under continuing supervision, with an eye kept on exactly what they're doing and what their thoughts are,' she said.

The church's stance on child sex abuse has been attacked by Marilyn Hawes, director of Enough Abuse (www.enoughabuse.co.uk) an organisation which works for better education in the understanding and prevention of 'grooming' and sexual child abuse. In 2003 she ran a successful campaign to have Jeffrey Carney, head of the school where she was a teacher, jailed for sexually abusing young boys.

'They make a big fuss about homosexuality in the church but never paedophilia,' said Hawes. 'Where is the statement from the church that supports victims of this kind on a Christian basis? I cannot bear the hypocrisy.'

The Church of England apparently sought to contradict Hind's earlier statements. A spokesman said: 'Neither Mrs Hind nor the Church of England advocates non-custodial sentences for paedophiles.

'It is up to the court to decide the appropriate sentence necessary for the proper protection of children. That might be a custodial sentence, but the court might sentence a convicted child abuser to supervision in the community with appropriate treatment.'